Road preference of ants in a Japanese warm temperate forest and its implications for the regeneration of myrmecochorous sedges

Tanaka, Koki; Tokuda, Makoto

doi:10.1111/1440-1703.12225

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

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“…Additionally, seed dispersal is a central issue in vegetation management because it can promote the introduction of new species and weeds [4,[8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15]. It is also a major focus of studies on plant-animal interactions [16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seed Mucilage Promotes Dispersal of Plantago asiatica Seeds by Facilitating Attachment to Shoes

et al. 2022

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Understanding the mechanisms underlying seed dispersal is a fundamental issue in plant ecology and vegetation management. Several species demonstrate myxospermy, a phenomenon where the seeds form mucilage after absorbing water. Mucilage is thought to act as a glue, enabling seeds to attach to the external surfaces of dispersing agents. However, there have been no quantitative investigations of the efficacy of this function of seed mucilage. We performed a trampling and walking experiment to investigate the seed dispersal of a perennial herb, Asian plantain (Plantago asiatica L.), which forms polysaccharide mucilage upon hydration. Our experiment showed that: (1) after trampling, more seeds of P. asiatica attached to shoes in wet conditions (after rainfall), in which seed mucilage was created, than in dry conditions (no rainfall); and (2) after walking for 1000 m, more seeds remained attached to shoes in wet conditions than in dry conditions. Our results indicate that mucilage promotes the adherence of seeds to the surface of vectors. We therefore provide the first empirical evidence that seed mucilage facilitates epizoochory and human-mediated dispersal.

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